Henry hoffman



(No Model.)

H.A H0EIMAN. Jr.' v DOOR LATCH HANDLE.

Paw@A ted Aug. 13

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY HOFFMAN, JR., OF SOUTH NORWALK, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THENORVALK LOCK COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

DOOR-LATCH HANDLE.

SPECIFICATION forming party of Letters Patent N o. 408,974, dated August13, 1889.

Application led March 15, 1889. Serial No. 303,381. (No model.)

.To all whom t may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY HOFFMAN, Jr., of South Norwalk, in the countyof Fai riield and State of Connecticut, have invented a new Improvenientiu Door-Latch Handles; and I do hereby declare the following, when takenin connection with the accompanying drawings and the letters ofreference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of1o the same, and which said drawings constitute part of thisspecification, and represent, 1n-

Figure l, a front View of the handle complete; Fig. 2, a side view ofthe same; Fig. 3

a vertical central section.

This invention relates to an improvement in that class of door-latchhandles in which a thumb-piece is provided to operate the latch, thethumb-piece being pivoted so as to be per mitted an up-and-down movementby the thumb of the hand which grasps the handle, the object oftheinvention bein gaconvenient handle, which at the same time may behighly ornamental; and the invention consists in 2 5 the con structionas hereinafter described, and

particularly recited in the claims.

A represents the handle-plate, which is attached to the door by screwsor otherwise.

B represents the handle proper, which is also made 'fast to or a part ofthe plate A; C, the thumb-piece, which is hung directly to the upper endof the handle, as at a, and so as to swing up and down, as indicated inbroken lines.

3 5 The handle is recessed upon the front side at the upper end, and thethumb-piece appears to spring directly from the upper end of the handle,continuing the curve of the handle over, outward, and downward, termi-40 nating in a convenient shape e, upon which the thumb may be placed.The recess d of the handle permits the thumb-piece to lie close in vonthe general outline of the handle, and yet afford space for thedepression of the thumb-piece. In the front the thumb-piece, springing,as it does, directly from the upper end of the handle, appears as anornamental tip for that end of the handle, so that the thumb-piece formsa part of the handle itself,

so far as the appearance of the handle is con- 5o cerned, and aords aconvenience in grasping the handle much greater than when thethumb-piece passes through a mortise in the handle, as in the moregeneral construction. Again, by hinging the thumb-piece directly in theupper end of the handle and outside the plate, instead of upon theinside of the plate, as in the more general construction, the handle iswell adapted for mortise-latches, in which but a short tail-piece-suchas shown- 6o is desirably employed; but if the pivot were upon theinside of the plate, as in the usual construction, there would not bespace between the plate and the case ofthe latch for l the placing ofthe handle thereon, unless the door were of very great thickness; hencethis construction of handle is adapted to the thinner class of doors.The thumb-piece curving outward and downward below the pivot, themovement of the end of the thumb-piece in 7o operating the latch isproduced under a simple pressure inward, as seen in broken lines, Fig.3, and gives so great length to the thumb-piece thata strong leverage isattained,

as well as a convenience in applying the thumb.

In some cases the handle may be applied directly to the door without theface-plate that is to say, the faceplate illustrated may be omitted, inwhich case the bolts or screws 8o by which the handle is secured willpass directly into or through the door instead of into the plate. Underthis construction the handle may be made of the highest ornamentalcharacter, as will appear by the illustration. 8 5

I claiml. The herein-described improvement in door-latch handles,consisting of a face-plate and a handle attached thereto, combined witha thumbpiece hinged directly in the upper end 9o of the handle andforming in appearance a continuation of the handle, the tail of thethumb-piece extending through the plate, substantially as described.

2. The combination of the latch-plate A, the handle B, attached totheplate, and the thumb-piece C, hinged directly to the upper end of thehandle and outside the plate, the

handle recessed below the thumb-piece, and the thumb-piece projectingfrom the upper end of the handle and curved downward iu front of thesaid recess, substantially as described.

The latch-handle B, adapted for attachment to the door, combined withthe thumbpiece C, hinged directly to the upper end 0f the handle and sothat the pivot of the thumb-piece will be outside the surface of lo thedoor, the tail of the thumb-piece extending rearward from the handle,substantially as described.

HENRY HOFFMAN, JR.

lllitliesses:

FRED C. EARLE, LILLIAN D. KELSEY.

